You rarely see electroacoustic music composers playing live improvisations. So I guess it is four times more rare that you will encounter four of them improvising together. Christian Bouchard, Christian Calon, Mario Gauthier and Monique Jean have taken the sonic materials they develop in the studio out on stage to make them meet, interact and transform. The quartet has been active on and off for a few years, and now we finally have a debut CD. Recorded in February 2009, this album features nine tracks 5 to 12 minutes in duration, all interrelated under a theme, “species of spaces”, borrowed to Georges Pérec. The listener is greeted by a flurry of sounds that are actually more organised than what meets the ear. The album features a wide spectrum of moods, sound levels and assemblages. Quite vivid as a whole, dizzying at times even, though never getting to in-your-face noise. Solid stuff.

I have been following Jackie-O Motherfucker for quite a while, and I enjoyed their previous studio release Ballads of the Revolution. I don’t know what to think of this fresh-out one. All I’m hearing is disappointingly-performed songs (“In the Willows,” long and mood-less) and instrumentals with clumsy electronics (“Raga Joining” and “Raga Separating”). Disappointing.

Italian band Acqua Fragile’s second album, released in 1974, and their final record with original singer Bernado Lanzetti before he departed for PFM. Very good Italian progressive rock, sung in English (sadly, but still), with catchy melodies. This ain’t no PFM or Banco, but “Mass-Media Star,” “Coffee Song,” and “Cosmic Mind Affair” are strong songs. In fact, Mass-Media Stars is almost on par with PFM’s Chocolate Kings.